Constant-level-controlling dam for canal-locks.



F. A. RODRIGUEZ.

CONSTANT LEVEL CONTROLLING DAM FOR CANAL LOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 19M. RENEWED SEPT. 15. 1915.

Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

INVENTOR A TIOHNEYS CONSTANT-LEVEL-CONTROLLING DAM FOR CANAL-LOCKS.

Application filed February 26, 1914, Serial No. 821,155.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCISCO ALEJANDRO RODRIGUEZ, a citizen of Uruguay, and a resident of Montevideo, Uruguay, South America, have invented a new and Improved Constant- Level- Controlling Dam for Canal- Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to dams of the controllable type for use in rivers in connection with canal locks, sluices or the like, whereby the Water in the lock can be prevented from attaining too high a level under ordinary rises of the river level, so that navigation of boats can be conducted through the lock.

The general objects of the invention are to provide a novel type of dam made up of sections which are controlled from one bank of the river, each section constituting a gate which is centrally pivoted ona vertical shaft, whereby the gate can be swung through an arc of ninety degrees from closed to open position, or vice versa, the gates being adapted to be opened in succession as the river rises, so as to provide an increased area of outlet of the dam, whereby the desired level can be maintained in thelock or sluice.

In carrying out the invention the vertical shafts will beset in a suitable foundation in the bed of the river and the gates mounted thereon to turn independently, there being abutments suitably arranged for engagement by the ends of the gates when the latter are in closed position, whereby part of the pressure can be taken off the shafts. Each gate has connected therewith at each end thereof a cable which passes through suitable guiding means and extends to one bank of the river, and by pulling on one cable of the gate the latter can be opened, while pulling on the other cablethe gate may be closed. i

In operation it is preferable to begin opening the gates or sections of the dam at the point remote from the lock or sluice, that is to say, beginning at the gate at the side of the river opposite from the lock, so that the flow of the waterthrough the dam will not roughen or agitate the water close to the lock so as to carry the boats out of their course as they leave the lock. One wall of the lock may be provided with a breakwater which curves outwardly into the river so as to break the force of the water Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, I915.

Renewed September 15, 1915. Serial No. 50,903.

passing through the dam when the gate nearest the lock is finally opened, such breakwater being especially useful in comparatively narrow rivers in which one or more dam gates are used.

A dam of the construction described is comparatively inexpensive to construct and can be made extremely durable. By means of anti-friction devices between the gates and their shafts the work required in opening the gates is materially lessened. As the gates are opened and closed from one of the banks by means of cables or the like, the

' attendant does not expose his person to in- 7 ury, as would be the case if it was necessary to operate the gates from points directly at the latter, and by making the dam gates to swlng on vertical axes 1t is possible for vessels to pass directly through the dam when the gates are open whenever the water is so high as to cover and conceal the lock, it being merely necessary to provide some means for marking the position of the open gates and the abutments for guiding the vessels through the dam.

With such objects in view, and others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, such as will be set forth with particularity in the following description and claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and wherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a river across which the dam is constructed from one bank to a lock or sluice at the other bank, both gates being shown by full lines in closed position, and the gate farthest from the look is shown in open position by dotted llnes; Fig. 2 1s a transverse section of the river from one bank to the other;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the gates; and Fig. 4: is an enlarged sectional view showing the manner of mounting a gate on its shaft.

Referring to the drawing, 1 and 2 desigplurality of gates4 and P which are indeenough water in the lock 3 to enable vessels to pass therethrough. When, however, the

gates of the dam are opened, the water can readily pass through the dam andthereby prevent the level in the look from rising. ab-

normally high, and obviously, by providing a large number of gates and opening them successively as the-level of the river rises, it ispossible to maintain the level in the lock practically constant for ordinary rlses 1n the level of the river, due to rains, but, of course, when the river is abnormally high and the lock is covered with water it is possible for vessels to pass through the dam when the gates are in open posltion.

The bed of the river is provided with a concrete fioor or foundation 5, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4t, the foundation being reinforced at the point 6 where the vertical shafts 7 of the gates are planted. The gates, which are of rectangular or any other suitable form, may be made of sheet metal ribbed and braced in any desired way, and at the center or adjacent thereto is a tube or trunk 8 through which the shaft 7 extends.

Within the tube or trunk 7 of each gate are anti-friction devices 9 which are carried by a sleeve 10 on the shaft 7, such devices 9 being a series of rollers journaled on the sleeve 10 and engaging the inner surface of the tube or trunk 8. The sleeve 10 has a base formed with an annular track 11 on which run anti-friction rollers 12 so arranged that the lower end of the tube or trunk 8 bears thereon. By means of these sets of anti-friction rollers the gate will turn without undue friction. The lower edges 13 of the gates are close to the top surface of the foundation or floor 5 in the bed of the river, and the ends 14: of the gates are adapted to bear, when the gates are in closed position, against piers, abutments or other supports 15 in the river. Each gate has a pair of cables 16 and 17 connected at the respective ends and these cables are long enough to extend to the bank 2 of the river, the cables being passed through suitable guide means 18, and preferably located close tothe bed of the river so as not to interfere with navigation, as the boats are intended to pass over the cables. Any suitable mechanism may be arranged to operate the cables, as, for instance, the

cables of each gate may be connected with a drum '19 suitably operated, whereby one cable will wind on the drum and the other cable unwind therefrom as the drum is turned to either open or close the gate, one cable being active to open the gate and the other active to close the gate.

In practice it is preferable to open first that gate which is nearest the opposite shore from the lock, so that the water passing through the open gate will not cause currents in the down-stream side of the dam, which would have a disturbing influence on a vessel passing out of the lock, and as the level of the river rises the gates are successively opened from the far-off bank to the lock, and when all the gates are open, the vessels can pass directly down the river without going through the lock, the latter being covered by water, as might be the case during abnormal high water flows. The closing of the gates takes place in the reverse order, that is to say, the gate nearest the lock is closed first, and thereafter the gates are successively closed in a direction toward the opposite bank of the river. The lock may be provided at its down-stream end with a breakwater 20, so as to prevent disturbing currents from throwing vessels leaving the lock out of their course when the last gate, or one nearest the lock, is finally opened.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and method of operation will be readily under stood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation, together with the construction which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the construction shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a level controlling dam for a river, the combination of abutments spaced apart to permit boats to pass, a stationary vertical shaft disposed between the abutments and between which and either abutment boats can pass, and a gate mounted on the shaft and having its ends engaged with the abutments when the gate is in closed position, whereby the pressure on the closed gate is withstood by the shaft and one of the abutments, and means connected with the gate for moving the same to and from open position.

2. In a level controlling dam for a river, the combination of abutments spaced apart to permit boats to pass, a stationary vertical shaft disposed between the abutments and between which and either abutment boats can pass, a gate mounted on the shaft and having its ends engaged with the abutments when the gate is in closed position, whereby the pressure on the closed gate is withstood by the shaft and one of the abutments, a cable connected with the bottom of the gate at one side of the turning axis for closing the gate, a cable connected with the bottom of the gate and at the opposite side of the axis for opening the gate, and means connected with the cables for drawing in one cable while paying out the other.

3. In a level controlling dam for a river, the combination of a plurality of abutments spaced transversely of the river and the river being open for navigation between the abutments, a stationary shaft located between each pair of adjacent abutments, a

gate pivoted on each shaft to swing in a horizontal plane, the gates when closed being engaged with the abutments, a pair of cables connected with each gate respectively at opposite sides of its turning axis, whereby one cable effects the opening and the other the closing of the gate, and mechanism for simultaneously drawing in on one set of cables and paying out the other set, whereby the gates are simultaneously opened or closed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANCISCO ALEJANDRO RODRIGUEZ. Witnesses:

Donorno GARCIA LAGOS, A. L. BROOKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

